Family Fun
Soldiers and Soft Boiled Eggs
The soldiers are being dunked into the soft boiled egg!
One of my daughters has a new favorite breakfast treat – Soldiers and Soft Boiled Eggs! My husband was the one who introduced her to this new breakfast dish and it was a hit! Our family tries to have a sit down Saturday morning breakfast or brunch. We try to have at least one meal a day where we all sit down and eat together as a family. During the week that meal is in the evenings for dinner, but on Saturday we try to do it in the morning since many Saturday afternoons and evenings are taken up with other activities.
My husband is an amazing cook and will often introduce the kids to new recipes or come up with his on completely new recipe. Which always turns out delicious! I don’t think he has ever made anything that didn’t taste yummy! Myself on the other hand….well….let’s just say there have been a few dishes or recipes I have made that we can laugh about now as a family, ha!
The best part about Soldiers and Soft Boiled Eggs is that they are pretty easy to make. The “soldiers” are just bread that is toasted, buttered, and cut into strips. The soldiers are perfect for dunking into the delicious thick and runny egg yolk!
A soft boiled egg is a perfect combination between poached and hard boiled egg. To make soft boiled eggs you bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Gently add your eggs to the boiling water and cover the top of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and let them cook for 5 minutes. (While your eggs are boiling make your soldiers.) Remove the eggs from the boiling water and rinse the eggs with cold water.
Once your soft boiled egg is done cut off the top and serve immediately with your toast soldiers! After you are done dunking all your soldiers and your egg yolk is gone you can peel and eat the rest of your egg.
My daughter loves this breakfast. I think dunking the soldiers in the egg yolks has a certain appeal, but she enjoys the taste too. Always love it when we come up with fun and healthy recipes!
Dunking her soldiers into the soft boiled egg yolk.
Typically we do one piece of toast per two eggs, but it really depends on how much you want to dunk or the amount of yolk you want on each soldier.
Kids in the Kitchen: Mini Doughnuts
Mini Doughnuts!
The kids love spending time in the kitchen. They have put together some great treats. Thankful for kids who love to cook. They used the doughnut recipe on the mini doughnut container. The doughnuts were good, but they were a little heavier than what we were used to so we will probably look for a different recipe to try out. They did these all by themselves. The kids decorated them beautifully.
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Gift Giving: Give the Gift of Amazon Prime
The Valentine Holiday will be here soon, at the end of this week in fact! So EXCITING! If you are still looking for the perfect gift for someone on your list you can give the gift of Amazon Prime. This gift is perfect for anyone (men, women, kids, college students, couples, and more) on your gift list! You can now give the gift of Amazon Prime Membership.
Gift of Amazon Prime includes:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items (no minimum order size)
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video
- Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
- Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Amazon will send your recipient their gift on the day you choose along with the redemption instructions. The gift recipient can begin their Prime Membership immediately. If the recipient currently has a Prime Membership they can exchange their gift for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
The Amazon Prime Membership is perfect for any family and friends that enjoy online shopping. They will get FREE Shipping and many other perks with their membership. It is a great gift that could be used for as a Holiday, wedding, birthday, anniversary gifts, and more!
Love It – Ozobot Robot
Ozobot running through its course!
One of the gifts the girls got for Christmas was an Ozobot. It has been really neat seeing them learn more about robotics and create more maps for it to explore. The Ozobot is very tiny and comes with a couple maps.
You can create any number of additional maps for the Ozobot – all you need is a piece of paper and some markers. The kids have really enjoyed doing different maps for the Ozobot. One of the best ways to create new maps is to get a large piece of drawing paper from an easel and have the kids continue to add various paths to it until it is full of fun routes and activities for the Ozobot to go on.
We got the Ozobot from a deal site, but you can also find it on Amazon as well. The Ozobot helps the kids learn more about programming and coding while having fun! If you know of a kid (or an adult!) who enjoys robotics, computers, and/or engineering you may want to check it out!
We made a list with all four of our names – we ask the Ozobot after dinner who should clean up the table! He will pick someone at random…interesting way to decide who gets chosen for the task! Ha! Dad was the lucky winner this time around!
Karlie mesmerized by Ozo!
Learning how to program it and make new maps for it.
Brina designed a new map for Ozo to run on.
Really neat robot! Love that you can create new maps!
Ozobot picking the next lucky winner! Who gets to choose the next game for the family to play?!
You can learn more about the Ozobot and read some of the reviews on the Ozobot website or on Amazon.
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
Last week flew by so quickly and we are now entering the middle of February. I am excited about some of the fun events coming up this week. My parents will be coming to visit us in SC for a few days. The kids are thrilled and I have to kick into gear to get my house picked up before our guests arrive. Also, this week is special because we are celebrating Valentine’s Day which is a great time to demonstrate our love to those around us. Here are my goals for this week:
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
Finish reading Wonder’s Victory by Joanna Campbell to the kidsPlan one special activity with the familyPlay a Game with the Kids– we did it different this week, we split up in pairs to play games one-on-one with the kids (Jake played Chess with Karlie and I played Trouble with Brina)Prepare for Upcoming Winter EventsSpend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with HomeworkAttend After School ActivitiesLunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before- Plan a Fun Birthday Activity for the Kids – working on it
Confirm my parents plans for their upcoming visit
Personal Goals
Drink 8 glasses of water each dayContinue my YouVersion plan(s)Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one dayWeekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week- Use up food items in our pantry and freezer – still going through the various items
Clean House (Focus – Dining Room)- Organize Chaos (Focus – Game Closet) – isn’t quite finished yet
Yard Cleanup (Focus – Clean Kids Outdoor Toy Storage Containers)Pet Care (Focus – Pick Up More Dog Food)
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog postsRespond to Inquiry – Business Relation EmailsKeep up with the day to day items that need my attentionWork completed for clients
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, medical, and other debt)- working on it, made a small extra payment this week
Pay Bills & File Paperwork- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget – went to more than 1 store
Sale Items no longer using or do not need on Facebook / Craigslist / Ebay– sold a couple items and used the money to make an extra payment on our debt
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Finish reading Ashleigh’s Dream (Thoroughbred Series #5) by Joanna Campbell to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Prepare for Upcoming Winter Events
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Plan a Fun Birthday Activity for the Kids
- Confirm my parents plans and activities for their upcoming visit
- Celebrate Valentine’s Day
- Spend Extra Time with Extended Family
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Use up food items in our pantry and freezer
- Clean House (Focus – Overall House Cleaning)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Game Closet)
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Yard Clean Up)
- Pet Care (Focus – Pick Up Salt Block for Goats)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, medical, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
- Sale Items no longer using or do not need on Facebook / Craigslist / Ebay
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.
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Olive Garden Teams Up With My Gym for 2nd Annual Parents’ Night Out!
On Friday, Feb. 20, Olive Garden will break down the barriers to date night for parents through a national partnership with My Gym. Olive Garden will cover the cost for kids to have a fun-filled evening at My Gym while parents enjoy an affordable Four Course Festa Italiana dinner as part of its second annual Parents’ Night Out.
A recent survey found that the overall cost, including childcare and dining, combined with lack of trustworthy child supervision are the largest barriers to date night for nearly 75 percent of parents.* Parents’ Night Out is designed to solve this dilemma. Parents can enjoy quality time over an affordable and delicious meal at Olive Garden while their kids are entertained with games and activities in a safe environment.
Couples can participate in Parents’ Night Out by contacting their nearest My Gym location to confirm participation, obtain event details and register. Space is limited to approximately 30 kids at each of the 148 participating My Gym locations in the U.S. and Canada, and reservations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis (deposit required).
To help parents make the most of their evening, Olive Garden is offering its first-ever Four Course Festa Italiana starting at $12.99, featuring unlimited breadsticks and choice of homemade soup or famous house salad, and choice of small plate, entrée and decadent Dolcini mini dessert.
For more about the great deals at Olive Garden, visit www.olivegarden.com or connect with Olive Garden on social media atFacebook.com/OliveGarden, Twitter.com/OliveGarden and Instagram.com/OliveGarden.
Flashback Friday: Barnyard Theme 1st Birthday Party
Happy 1st Birthday girls!
Today our flashback event goes back to the girls first birthday party! We had a barnyard theme for their first birthday party. Our family and friends came to celebrate the special day with us. They were very excited and quite confused by all the commotion that day. Even Jake’s Mom, my parents, and my grandparents were able to come for this special event with us!
Thankful for our family and friends who celebrated this special day with us! It is amazing to see how much these families have grown and changed since this celebration over 9 years ago!
Jake’s Mom (aka Grandma Kay) made these beautiful farm cakes for the girls. She put a lot of time and energy into the cakes and they were so adorable! Brina’s was a calf and Karlie’s was a lamb. The rest of us got to enjoy the barn cake! They were super cute and delicious.
Brina demolished her birthday cake. Karlie didn’t want to touch her cake or get messy, the only frosting she got on her fingers and face was from us sticking her fingers into the frosting for her and smearing it on her face.
What’s everyone looking at!? Brina thoroughly enjoyed her birthday cake! 🙂 What a mess!
Brina’s adorable calf cake before she tore into it.
Karlie’s cute lamb cake. It looked almost the same once she was done with it!
Toenail Painting Party
Every once in a while when we get a few extra minutes the girls enjoy doing a toenail painting party. We usually make it a fun event by choosing a variety of neat colors. Sometimes we paint our own toenails and other times paint each others toenails.
We spend our time chatting and catching up with each other during this relaxing activity. A lot of great conversations and laughter usually happen during these parties (I am sure it has nothing to do with the paint fumes)! While our toes may not always be perfectly painted or we make a mess we have a lot of fun together which is the most important part of the activity anyway. Thankful for these wonderful moments that I can share with my girls!
